Middle English Romances: Authoritative Texts, Sources and Backgrounds, Criticism Book

This is one of the seminal texts for studying Medieval Romances in Middle English. The texts include Havelock, Ywain and Gwain, Sir Orfeo, Sir Launfal (and Sir Landevale), The Awntyrs off Arthure, The Weddyng of Syr Gawen, and the Sege off Melayne. This anthology is for a beginner-- either undergrad or early postgrad, as every line is glossed with word definitions, many of which are simply unnecessary for anyone with a grasp of ME. However, the footnotes are excellent, demonstrating conceptual and linguistic similiarities between other parts of the text itself, and also to other romances within the volume. The second portion (or first appendix) provides a list of all the sources that these ME romances drew from, which immediately bring another layering to the romances. The third section (or second appendix) is a set of introductory essays by scholars, highlighting the key aspects of romances for someone with little previous encounter with them. This text includes three romances that are not found in either the Sands or Mills editions, so it both compliments and overlaps. It's a good, weighty text, accessible, but more designed for the undergraduate. I realize that most of these texts are available via TEAMS, but I much prefer this compact edition, to the more bulky (or perhaps simply wide) TEAMS texts.